Stores defy Sunday ban
Ministers meet to discuss law as 40 DIY stores open in Ile-de-France
FORTY DIY stores defied a ban on Sunday opening in the Ile-de-France last weekend, prompting a meeting of ministers to review the situation.
Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said that ministers involved in this area of legislation would meet today to “evaluate” it.
“The status quo is untenable,” said the minister of social affairs Marisol Touraine.
“There are staff who want to work on Sunday, and people who want to shop on Sunday,” she said during an interview on France 5.
“The previous government let rules piles up to the point where we don’t understand anything,” she added.
Two other ministers, Manuel Valls and Benoît Hamon, also gave interviews this weekend saying that the stores should respect the law, although Valls admitted that the current law from 2009 was “incoherent”.
The minister of work, Michel Sapin, said today in an interview with regional papers that he opposed relaxing Sunday trading laws.
When asked about Sunday opening and a recent decision to ban the store Sephora from opening late he said: “Do you think that working during the night improves working conditions? I don’t think so. Do you think that working on Sunday improves daily life, family life, social life? I don’t think so.”
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